Fireproofing and insulating structure.



No. 754,109. PATENTBD MAR. s, 1904. 0. F. ZAHN. FIREPROOFING AND INSULATING STRUGTURE.

APILIOATION FILED APB. 22, 1903. N0 MODEL.

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Patented March 8, 1904.

PATENT OEEICE.

OSWALD F. ZAHN, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

FIREPROOFING AND INSULATING STRUCTURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 754,109, dated March 8, 1904.

Application filed April 22, 1903.

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OsWALD F. ZAHN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Fireproong and Insulating Structure, of which the following is a specification.

An object of this invention is to provide an improvement in frame buildings whereby at a small expense the same may be made more fireproof and more impermeable to heat, cold, and sound.

A further object of the invention is to make provision at a minimum expense for preventing the communication of fire from one to another part of a building through cheaplyconstructed walls and other parts of the building.

My newly-invented fireprooling and insulating structure comprises a retainer and a filling composed principally of diatomaceous or infusorial earth held inplace by said retainer. The retainers are desirably refractory and may be variously constructed.

In structu res having hollow walls open above there is a tendency in case of fire to produce a strong draft through any of the fiues which may be formed by the hollow wall and through which the flames or fire may pass. Such strong draft may be in ordinary cases suflcient to cause the iiame passing through such passages to be so intense as to fuse ordinary metallic lathing of lath-and-plaster walls, thus causing the destruction of the wall and allowing the fiames to pass out into the adjoining rooms, thereby affording communication for the iames from room to room of the building, and an object of my invention is to prevent any draft through the walls.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure I is a vertical section of a structure made in accordance with this invention, portions being broken away to contract the view. Different forms of retainers are shown. Fig. II is a horizontal section on line II II, Fig. I, parts being broken away t0 show underlying features. Y

l 2 3 indicate refractory retainers, which may be ordinary metallic lathing, ordinary Serial No. 153,749. (No inodel.)

wire-netting, or other suitable device which will serve the purpose. Asbestos paper or other elements made of asbestos may be employed.

The retainers shown are desirably in the form of upright sheets fastened to the upright studding s of the wall.

In the drawings, 3 represents a retainer formed of laths, and A is plaster. Y

5 represents rustic or weather-board siding for the exterior of the wall.

It is to be understood that the plaster 4 in connection with ordinary wooden lath would form a retainer of good reproofing quality when combined with the filling 6 of the diatomaceous or infusorial earth.

The'filling which I prefer to use is a diatomaceous earth found in Santa Barbara county, California, and characterized by a marked lightness and porosity.

In preparing the material it may be mined from its natural bed, then sun-dried or dried by artificial heat,'and then ground to a ne powder. To make it more tenaceous, asmall proportionY of any suitable liber may be added, which helps to hold the material in place in case the retainers should in any way become loosened during a fire. A small proportion of plaster-of-paris or hydraulic cement maybe added when the filling is to be put in behind the lathing of a wall before the plaster is `applied to such lathing. The advantage of this is that the moisture from the keys of the plasterthat is, the plaster extending through the openings between the laths-willbe suiiicient to moisten portions of the filling of the wall, so that the plaster-of-paris contained therein may harden such filling sufliciently to keep it in place after the retaining-walls have been partly destroyed. In case braces are applied between the studding they may be arranged edgewise, as indicated at 12 in Fig. II, so that the spaces between the studding s may be readily filled with the filling material. 13 in Fig. I is a supporting-ribbon. The plate on the studding for inside partitions may be put on edgewise, as shown at 14. In this method the lling may be applied after the plaster is on by raising a board in the ioor from above. This material may be packed into place be- IOO tween the retainers with or without combination with fibrous binders 8, so that the Afilling is principally composed of said diatornaceous earth. The filling may also be applied between the iioor or ceiling joists 9, which serve as retainers for the same, the filling being upheld by a suitable base, as l0 and l1 in the drawings. Said diatomaceous earth is highly refractory, and when put into the wall, ioor, or ceiling, as stated, prevents any draft through the same. This prevents the re from passing' from one part of the building' to another through the usual hollow portions of the walls or iioors. The filling also affords protection against rats, mice, and vermin, as it is very light and powdery and when disintegrated serves to prevent the rodents or other vermin from making runways.

A desirable method of forming the walls is to disintegrate the natural diatomaceous earth to a iine powder and then pack it in between the upright retainers formed by the studding and the side boards of the wall. In the caseof the floors and ceilings the diatornaceous earth may be left coarser, in the form of chips n or iakesthat is to say, it is desirable that the illing of the walls be free from any inY terstices through which the air may pass; but the liability of a draft through the fioor and ceiling spaces is' not such as to require such close packing. In case of lire the filling will be held in place by the side retainers of wirenetting, metallic lath, or other refractory stuf though the weather-boarding or rustic should burn away. The iilling embeds the retainers, tzhus protecting them lneasureably from the That I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

A wall comprising studding, lath and plaster on one side oil the studding, a retainer on the other side of the studding, and a lling of infusorial or diatoinaceous earth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, this 16th day of April, 1903.

OSVVALD F. ZAHN.

lfitnesses:

JAMES R. TowNsEND, JULIA TowNsEND. 

